Liz Krueger's posts related to Energy

While I am glad that Governor Paterson has recognized the severity of this situation, I am disappointed that he has decided to veto such important legislation and has instead opted for a scenario that creates an easily exploitable loophole. The fact is that this legislation was drafted in a very specific manner to ensure that we put a temporary hold on all drilling that could do irreparable harm to areas of the State of New York. The Executive Order the Governor signed gives us some delay on some types of drilling, but it still leaves the State of New York vulnerable to overzealous gas companies who wish to make up for the ban on horizontal drilling by increasing the number of vertical drills.

NEW YORK—The governor is between a rock and a hard place—some would say, between big money and clean water.

On Saturday, Governor Paterson opened up what environmental advocacy groups are calling the “Paterson loophole” to companies wanting to expand their hydro-fracking activity. Hydraulic fracturing, or hydro-fracking, involves pumping a solution of water, sand, and a relatively small portion of toxic chemicals (0.5 percent) into the ground to bust through shale for the prized natural gas within. Many worry about contamination of the watershed that services all of New York City.

“The legislature can be proud of themselves,” declared State Senator Liz Krueger at a gathering in front of the governor’s office at 633 Third Ave. on Monday.

You know that broken iPod you’ve got sitting around? Those busted flip phones, or that laptop with the hole in the screen?(How on Earth did that get there?) Well they’ve all got batteries in ‘em and those batteries are no good for mother nature. Thanks to new legislation, signed yesterday by Gov. David Paterson and sponsored by Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, electronics manufacturers will be required under state law to work with retailers to set up convenient recycling programs for those sorts of batteries. The goal is to keep those toxic batteries out of landfills.

Elected officials are trying to find a tougher way to punish bad landlords who don’t provide heat to their tenants.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, State Senator Liz Krueger from Manhattan and members of the New York City Council are bringing awareness to the fact that many landlords are neglecting to provide tenants with basic services like heat and hot water.

They vowed to take necessary steps to ensure negligent landlords are compelled by harsher penalties and increased enforcement.

"In the wake of the natural disasters that have devastated Japan and have unleashed a nuclear threat upon a reeling population, we must heed the warning of these catastrophic events and close the Indian Point nuclear facility. While I applaud the quick and decisive action taken by Governor Cuomo and Lieutenant Governor Duffy to address concerns over Indian Point with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I’m afraid that any action short of closing this facility is simply not enough.

“Once again, an important bill has fallen victim to the intellectually dishonest debate that unfairly pits environmental issues against job creation. My bill (S.425), which today failed to pass through the Environmental Conservation Committee, would implement common sense measures by requiring gas companies to disclose all chemicals used in their hydraulic fracturing fluids and would ban the use of any substances deemed carcinogenic. However, instead of taking critical steps to ensure basic safeguards are put in place to protect all New Yorkers, my Republican colleagues have decided to stall this bill under the false pretense that it will hurt jobs in the upstate area.

On the day of a large rally outside the Capitol, Senate Democrats introduced the first significant legislation against hydraulic fracturing since the 2010 moratorium imposed by former Gov. David Paterson and the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Sens. Tony Avella, D-Whitestone, Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, and Joseph Addabbo, D-Queens, introduced a package of bills April 11 that includes three bills for tighter regulations and transparency for oil and gas drilling and a bill by Avella to ban hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, in New York state.